Rummy comes in many forms and is a classic card game! Everyone enjoys at least one version of Rummy, but it’s easy to miss a few with so many variants. Knock or Knock Rummy isn’t one of the most popular Rummy games, but it’s still plenty of fun.
What is The Knock Card Game?
Knock is a spinoff (or variant) of Rummy. You can find many different types of this game, including Liverpool Rummy and Rummy 500, to give you just a couple of examples. While it’s believed Rummy originated in Spain, its history, like many other card games, is a bit difficult to uncover.
Knock Rummy is believed to have been created in the early 1900s in New York. But what’s this Rummy variant all about? Like other Rummy-style games, players will need to group cards in melds.
The aim of the game is to assemble your cards in the lowest number of melds possible. But there is one big difference in Knock that helps it stand out from other similar games. In this game, players don’t reveal their melds until someone dares everyone to.
This essentially means that everyone’s melds are revealed together simultaneously! This adds a bluffing element to the game like you’d see in Poker. When a player knocks, everyone must lay their cards on the table.
Not knowing who has what card till someone knocks can make this version of Rummy much more strategic. However, the aim of the game is the same; you simply need to create melds to get rid of your cards.
We’ll discuss the rules you need to know for playing the Knock card game below. But before we do, let’s take a quick look at what you’ll need to play this fun, strategic card game, shall we?
What You’ll Need To Play?
To play Knock, you’ll need a deck of cards. Of course, any cards will do, but if you’re thinking of playing Knockdown at the pub, we recommend some waterproof playing cards to protect yourself from accidental spills.
Plastic playing cards also make a good choice for this very reason. These Teskyer Plastic Playing Cards would make a fine choice. Remember, before you start playing, read our rules guide carefully to ensure you know exactly how to play.
Rules and Gameplay
The Aim of The Game
To win in Knock, you need to get rid of all your cards in the fewest melds possible or simply be the first player to go out of the game. If two (or more players) go out during the same round, then the number of melds is counted.
The Set-Up
The first thing to do is choose a dealer. You can do this in any way you’d like, although selecting the most experienced card/Rummy player will likely be your best option. The dealer will deal out cards one at a time, face down, starting with the player to their left.
The number of cards dealt will vary depending on the total number of people playing. To help make this easier refer to the bullet points below.
- Two People – Ten Cards
- Three/ Four People – Seven Cards
- Five/ Six People – Six Cards
While Knock can make a great two-player card game, we think it works best with more people! Once the cards are dealt, the deck is placed face down in the center to form the stock. Take the top card from the stock and flip it up.
Place this card next to the stock to start the discard pile. If you are playing multiple games of Knock in one sitting, the dealer will usually change each round/game. However, you can simply stick to one dealer if you prefer.
Playing Knock
The player to the dealer’s left will go first, with the game continuing in a clockwise motion. On your turn, either take a facedown card from the stock or a face-up card from the discard pile.
You will need to discard a card from your hand when doing this. Your goal is to get rid of cards by putting them into melds. Melds can either be three/four of a kind or a numerical sequence of cards.
Sequences need to be a minimum of three cards, and they must all be the same suit. On your turn, you may also knock, which means everyone must lay their cards on the table. This lets everyone see what each other has in hand.
The game continues until one player gets rid of all their cards. When they do this, they’ll need to knock to announce to the others. If two (or more) players go out simultaneously, the melds are counted. The player with the fewest melds will win the game.
Playing With Points
One of the most popular ways to play Knock is with points. While the game’s basic rules are the same, there are a few extra things to know, especially when it comes to knocking. When a player knocks, this time, points are instead tallied.
When a player knocks, any cards not in a meld are put to one side. The point value of these cards is then tallied up. Refer to the list below to see the value of each card. Remember, in Knock Rummy, the Joker cards aren’t used.
- Ace – 1 Point
- Two – Ten – Face Value
- Face Cards – 10 Points
The player with the lowest value of unmatched cards will win the count. They’ll then score the difference in points from the other players. So, for example, if you have 5 points and your opponent has 15 points, you’ll score 10 points.
Only knock if you are sure you have the lowest hand because you’ll lose an additional 10 points if you don’t! The game is played the same, with the hand’s winner scoring an extra 25 points.
When playing with points, the score should be tallied during the game, and the first player to score 100 points will win.
The Knock Card Game – A Underrated Rummy Game
Knock is a lot of fun and well worth playing, especially if you enjoy games like Shanghai Rummy. But even if you don’t, Knock still makes a fun group card game, and it’s much more versatile and strategic than you might first think.
